Myrl Jeffcoat

Last year I was able to cross off an important entry to my "Bucket List." It was the dream of visiting Amish Country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and going on a buggy ride. The vision of such a journey had been with me for a decade or more.

A lull in family activities and business presented a perfect opportunity for me to jump on a plane, fly to Philadelphia, rent a car and make the drive out to where I could fulfill this dream.

I rose early on a Monday morning, drove from my hotel in Lancaster City, out to the Amish farm country, a few miles away. It wasn't long as I traveled along the road that I saw a little wooden sign that simply said, "Abe's Buggy Rides" nailed to a tree in front of a delightful looking house in the village of "Bird In Hand".

Hansie was the most delightful Amish buggy driver I could have hired that day. About half way through the ride, I asked him if it was ok to take his picture. Many Amish won't allow it. He appeared slightly hesitant, but then quickly agreed, while admonishing that should we approach other Amish, I should always ask to take their picture first.

During the ride, he seemed as curious about me, as I was about him, his family, his way of life. He could not believe I traveled alone, all the way from California to take a buggy ride. "Where are you from," he asked. When I responded, California, I quickly learned that he meant my ethnicity. I explained that my people were in this country in the early 1600s, and were Dutch. . .and hesitantly, I told him English too! The Amish are very distrusting of the English - but all "outsiders" are considered the English!

I don't really know how to explain to outsiders that in Lancaster County, there are curious names for their townships; "Bird In Hand" - "Intercourse" - "Virgintown" and "Blue Ball" . . . but I don't judge:-)

It was beautiful springtime weather, and even Daffy, the horse was enjoying the day! As we passed beneath the bridge, her steps made delightful music, which echoed from the walls.

I will easily remember that it was a Monday, because Monday is washday in Amish country, and lines of freshly hung laundry blew colorfully in the breeze as a testament to the day's work and accomplishment. When you dwell in a place that has a day of the week for all life's tasks - who would need calendars.

We stopped at a few Amish farms along the way. Nearly all have one cottage industry or another - Quilts, root beer, cheese, furniture, crafts, and one larger farm that had a large fence making enterprise going on.

Although many Amish don't have electrical power in their homes, they may tolerate it in their shops. I was fascinated riding down the roads, seeing power poles at the road, with no lines being connected to the houses along the way. Pennsylvania Power and Light must have a visceral disdain of those folks:-)

In the Amish village at Bird-In-Hand, they have restored the area. And the local Amish crafters and furniture builders, have furnished it. Note the price tags on the various pieces. So, once again the Amish use a simple solution of combining a museum and cottage industry together, allowing the community to flourish a bit with the talents they are so recognized for.

Near the end of the ride, Hansie asked, "Well is it everything you expected?" "No," I replied. . ."I can honestly say that it isn't - it's FAR more."

If you were to take Jackson Road-Highway 16 out of Sacramento, while traveling mostly east, but a tad south for a half hour or so, you would come upon the delightfully rural community of Sloughhouse.

Although the community is quiet and somewhat small, it does enjoy rich history.

As Sacramentans and other visitors to the area shuffle through Sloughhouse today, they often stop at the Davis Ranch Farmer's Market for ears of corn, which is prized among locals as being the best available. The area is a popular stopping off point for Sacramento County folks hoping for a pleasant drive up the highway further to Gold Rush Country. A few miles beyond Sloughhouse, you can take Highway 49 (the Gold Rush Highway), and travel on through Amador City, Sutter Creek, Jackson, and destinations beyond - making for a delightful day trip.

Sloughhouse is a verdant valley which acts as a floodplain for Deer Creek and the Cosumnes River. Prior to becoming known for its corn growing capacity, its land was mainly tended for the growth of hops. Traveling back in time a generation or so, would have you revisiting the area and finding trellises of hops growing up V shaped wires 20+ feet or so.

Early history records that on a summer evening in 1840, William Daylor, one of John Sutter's cooks became one of the first noted white men to visit the area. Daylor came upon the valley while conducting a search for some of the livestock belonging to his boss.

The area was found populated by Miwok Indians. Daylor later returned to the area with a friend, Jared Dixon Sheldon, who in 1844 acquired a Mexican land grant of approximately 20,000 acres. Sheldon had a reputation for getting along with the Indians.

For more history on the area you can click on the following link: Sloughhouse History

In the past I have blogged about another life I lived while working for an international software development company. I took this "temporary" job back in 1997 for what was to be a 3-month stint, but instead it ended up lasting 8 ½ years. All during that time I continued to sell real estate - often to the software developers and engineers, which were my co-workers until 2005.

Today, nine of us from the old company celebrated a small lunchtime reunion at a wonderful restaurant having a reputation in our area as presenting some of the most wonderful Asian epicurean delights available.

My favorites on their menu - Orange Chicken with chili and a special zesty orange sauce, Fat's Almond Chicken with almond crusted chicken breast and zesty orange sauce and Honey Walnut Prawns in a light sauce with caramelized walnuts.

Although there are several Fat's locations around the Greater Sacramento area, we chose the Fat's Asia Bistro located in Folsom, near Highway 50 at:

Fat's Asia Bistro
2585 Iron Point Road
Folsom, CA 95630

There website is as follows: http://www.fatsrestaurants.com

Often when visitors come to my city, I tell them Sacramento is known as The City of Trees. We actually have a Sacramento Tree Foundation, which proclaims we live in an "Urban Forest". . . Sacramentans love their trees.

There are two delightful trees that share my home with me. They are fairly well known around the neighborhood. One lives in my front yard, and is an aging, but healthy Modesto Ash by the name of Bob. The second tree, I have actually blogged about before here on ActiveRain - His name is Fred.

Yesterday, Sacramento, and much of California, woke to a storm, packing considerable ferocity - which is unusual to us in the month of October. The local weather guy tells us we generally get ½ inch of rain in October. However, this storm unloaded 3 to 4 inches of liquid sunshine. And, it arrived with high winds.

I experienced intermittent power failures mid-day Tuesday. By afternoon, a branch about 2 doors down flew into the power-lines and caused spectacular fireworks. BUT, the real drama came later at 8:30 pm, when an insulator and power line jerked loose from the pole, and catapulted onto my back neighbor's roof, bounced around a bit, while periodically hitting their rain gutters, creating scenes which should have been captured for use in the next Hollywood war movie. My house immediately went into dimmed "brown-out" state.

After shutting off my electrical panel breakers, I called the fire department once again. The system was overwhelmed by emergencies caused by downed power lines, trees, etc. The electrical arcing continued for hours during the night. Finally, around 3:00 am this morning, our utility company (SMUD) cut the lines to stop the activity.

About 95% of Sacramento had power restored by 4:30 pm this afternoon. But I was among the 5% still un-restored. I was VERY happy, when SMUD crews arrived at 5:00 pm and began giving Fred (the tree) a hair cut, as well as his other tree friends along the fence line. Once Fred's new hair style was fashioned, power was restored, and life began anew.

The pictures above, show the insulator on the back neighbor's roof, some of the repairs going on at my place, a totaled neighborhood fence, a very lucky new car that was just missed by a falling tree, and a SMUD guy showing evidence that Fred had been smoking in bed:-)

Within a hour drive east of Sacramento, along highway 50, is a special place cradled in the arms of the Sierra Foothills that comes alive this time of year. In autumn when the fruit comes into harvest, and the cider is pressed, Apple Hill provides delight for all.

Originally, Apple Hill was a collection of approximately 16 ranches or orchards. Today it boasts more than 50 ranches including Christmas tree growers, wineries, a micro-brewery, Spa, vineyards, and pumpkin patches.

Apple Hill is located in El Dorado County - approximately 4 miles east of Placerville. There is easy access from highway 50.

This link will provide you with a schedule of old-fashioned fun packed activities: http://www.applehill.com

Plan a picnic on the beautiful land that spreads her colorful leaves.

Who has What - and When and Where?

Days and hours of each individual ranch are listed here. For more information on what they offer, see the Apple Hill Guides and Apple Hill Maps Which ranch has which APPLES? Apples & Other Fruit Guide